Mario Lemina’s role at Wolves has changed with noticeably new instructions from Gary O'Neil

Wolves captain Lemina scored his side’s only goal of the game as Newcastle United ran out 2-1 victors at Molineux on Sunday.

The Gabon international played in a noticeably different role than he had earlier in the campaign, as he moved into a more advanced position due to the introduction of £21 million signing André. O’Neil is working hard to facilitate the pair alongside the ultra-impressive João Gomes, all while maintaining good balance throughout the XI.

Lemina was utilised pretty much everywhere across the pitch last season as Wolves suffered from an injury crisis, so changes in instructions aren’t unfamiliar to the skipper. It’s still a tricky skill to adjust to new positions week on week, though, and Lemina did brilliantly to swap a deep sweeper role for a box-to-box one.

There were times when the former Juventus man was effectively playing up top alongside Jorgen Strand Larsen. It proved fruitful as Lemina created two excellent chances for Wolves’ new number nine to score, including a woodwork hit. The goal was also as a result of Lemina’s desire to get into the box.

“I don’t think he was out of position, with the ball he was an eight and we managed to use him and Joao [Gomes] as the eights,” O’Neil explained when asked about Lemina during Sunday’s post-match press conference.

“To see them both a bit higher up and link up for the goal, their understanding caused Newcastle a lot of problems. I liked a lot of it. We need to make sure it gets us results but they carried it out well. We looked a threat, we were fairly solid against a very good side,” O’Neil continued.

It will undoubtedly take a little while for Lemina, Gomes and André to gel in close quarters but when it clicks Wolves could have one of the Premier League’s most formidable midfields. The talent is certainly there and O’Neil is doing his utmost to ensure the maximum is derived from their sky-high potential as a trio.